George R. R. Martin has already made it clear enough that he’s not in any rush to release “Winds of Winter” too soon, but while some of his more hopeful fans were expecting the author to at least push the book for a 2015 release, his publisher has recently come out with a confirmation that this isn’t happening after all. To most of the writer’s fans, this was hardly any surprise – in fact, it’s been rumored for a while that Martin is not going to make it for a 2015 release.
The exact reason for the delay is not known, other than the vague explanation that Martin wants to give the book more polish and really make sure that it meets fans’ expectations. That would certainly make a lot of sense though, given the amount of pressure there currently is on the author. This is one of the most anticipated releases in the world of literary fiction, at least in recent times, and it’s not only the sequel to one of the most popular book series, but also the conclusion to the whole storyline – so, needless to say, there’s a lot of attention on George R. R. Martin for this release, and it’s perfectly understandable that the author could be a bit anxious about the release.
Meanwhile, production of “Game of Thrones”, the TV show based on the book series, has been going at full speed, and it’s actually managed to surpass the writing of the books themselves. This has led to a peculiar situation, where producers of the show have reportedly had to meet with the author to get some details on the plot, so they could continue their work on the show. So, at this point, there are some people out there who actually know what’s going to happen in “Winds of Winter”, although Martin has probably not revealed the full nature of the plot details to them.
2016 seems like a likely release year for the book, and pretty much all fans of the series have been arming themselves with a lot of patience and careful anticipation. It’s going to be a big release, there’s no denying that – but hopefully, Martin will be able to pull it off in a way that doesn’t disappoint anyone.
Because in the end, the longer the book takes to come out, the more people are going to expect from it, and that can’t always be healthy for the final product. Of course, Martin is an experienced writer, and one with a lot of skill, but after a certain time period, the bar will just be too high for anyone to realistically jump over, as we’ve seen multiple times in the history of entertainment in general, not just books.